Oh boy! Another Movie-based Game

On March 23rd the movie inspired game, "How to Train a Dragon" will be spinning in consoles and downloaded onto iPhones just three days before the theatrical release this Friday. The first thing that comes to mind when I catch wind of a movie based game is FLOP!

Where to begin..?

*First I'd like to emphasize that my game scores are pulled from none other than Game Informer.

Lets take a look at some recent movie-game reviews

The Godfather2 (rating 5.5)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (rating 6.25)

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (rating 3.5)

Avatar (6.5)

Keep in mind these ratings were whittled down from a ten point scoring system; anything under 7.75 is considered pretty sloppy -to say the least. And compared to their cinematic counter-parts these games just sucked. It really upsets me that the antagonist in this [possible] hook -line and sinker is the amount of [time] allotted for the project. Two questions easily come to mind in this situation:

'How much time is spent on a licensed game that is suppose to release in sync with it's film?'

'And who gets to decide whether to release a game for the movie?'

Whatever the answers, the fact still remains that profitability is, without a doubt, an administrative necessity and the cohesion of two industry giants entertaining us in digital-analogue mediums- creates more money for bling, grills and whatever else that deep pockets will get you.

Quick Fact: For over 4 years Activision has been partnered-up with DreamWorks, the studio behind "How to Train Your Dragon". The "long-term broad-based" alliance entitles Activision to worldwide exclusive rights to games for upcoming DreamWorks Animation films.

Nonetheless, if the aforementioned games were giving more time, then maybe the love and devotion that was put into them could shine as brightly as their counter-parts. The only excuse for poor audio, glitches in animation,coupled with half-assed programing [to name just a few no no's] is just that.. Time!

How to Train Your Dragon's vocal cast will help solidify what is to be another CG great for DreamWorks Animation Studios:

Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up/Tropic Thunder) as Hiccup

Jonah Hill (SuperBad/Grandma's Boy) as Snotlout

America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) as Astrid

Gerard Butler (300/Gamer) as Stoick

and more

Lets just hope the game is a game and not another facade with a marketing scheme behind it.

Stay hardcore, and let me know what your opinion is on movie-based games and possibly a consensus on my two questions.

Game On,

Rahsero

Singularity Comic Book in the Works

Activision Publishing Inc. teams up with Twistory Studios in collaboration with Image Comics Inc. on creating the very first graphic novel for Raven's upcoming FPS, Singularity for PC, 360 and PS3.

Industry vets will join forces to create the ultimate graphic novel:

• David Atchinson of the Occult Times Task Force and The Warriors
• Davide Fabbri with credits from Heavy Metal and the Star Wars:Council Jedi series
• Christopher Morrison credited with narratives from Dust and 13 Chambers

The story will show what happened sometime during 1950 on an island known only as Katorga-12 just off the Russian Peninsula as an experiment goes terribly wrong, unraveling time as we know it which leads up to the point of Singularity in 2010. The single issue graphic novel will be available shortly after the release of the Singularity game Spring of 2010 (what a coincidence).

Atchinson, Fabbri, and Morrison will be at this year's Comic Convention in San Diego, CA on July 23-26 in booth #5001 for autographs and photographs. For more info go to: singularity-thegame.com